Brian Nickel recently sent through a link to the very Elk package for Dynamo, that essentially opens up web geographical data access to Dynamo and thus through to Revit for topography creation and similar.

It was already an established plugin for Grasshopper, but developer Timothy Logan has released a port for Dynamo which can be accessed through the Package Manager.

elk_dynamo-7256719

Elk HKS site:
Elk Mapping Plugin | HKS LINE

Heads-up from:
The Revit Saver: Dynamo – Elk for DynamoBIM by Timothy Logan

Quote from The Revit Saver:
Thank you to Timothy Logan for making Elk available to Dynamo users!

Here are his two videos for how to use the OSM data and Topographical data.

Elk for Dynamo – OSM from Timothy Logan on Vimeo.

Elk for Dynamo – OSM from Timothy Logan on Vimeo.

Some of the links referenced in the above videos:

https://www.openstreetmap.org/
http://dds.cr.usgs.gov/srtm/version2_1/
http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
http://www.opentopography.org/

I have posted about CADtoEarth before, but here is a quick 5 minute video using the latest version:


You can also import building models to Revit from Google Earth, but in my experience the families created by CADtoEarth are not realistic in terms of height:

height2bfail-9528144

Download CADtoEarth from:
https://apps.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3Acadtoearth%3Aen

  1. Go to https://geoauth.google.com/gev0/free_trial.html
  2. Fill out the form and submit
  3. Download Google Earth Pro and start install
  4. Check your email for username and the free key
  5. When installation prompts you, enter username and serial number, and tick ‘Automatic Login’

As you probably know, Google Earth Pro adds some useful extra features for AEC and BIM… enjoy.

via
LinkedIn

More on the free release:

http://google-latlong.blogspot.com.br/2015/01/google-earth-pro-is-now-free.html

Google Earth 6.2 features a new way of rendering all those mosaic pics of satellite and aerial photographs, smoothing out the borders between them so the globe looks even more like our beautiful blue planet.
That smooth beauty is not just visible from a distance, either — as you zoom in, the seamless look continues, all the way down to the closest views.

If you haven’t used Google Earth in a while, download Google Earth 6.2 and look at how much better it’s become.

via
Google Earth 6.2 Is a Massive Improvement, Shows Smooth Blue Planet [PICS]